Gary S. Becker

A first edition, first printing of Human Capital by economist Gary S. Becker.

• Gary S. Becker (American).
• Human capital: a theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education. 
• New York: National Bureau of Economic Research / Columbia University Press, 1964.
• 187 pages.
• Stamped commemorative envelope laid in, with Becker's name signed in pen on recto and written in pencil on verso. 
• National Bureau of Economic Research Number 80, General Series. 
• Original gilt-stamped blue cloth, in original unclipped dust jacket.

Scarce first edition of the pioneering Chicago School economist's best-known work, on the importance of investing in one's workforce.

"[H]uman capital is going to be an important part of the thinking about development, income distribution, labor turnover, and many other problems for a long time to come."

Recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal, the National Medal of Science, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Becker was called by Milton Friedman the "greatest social scientist" of the later 20th century. Famous for applying economic reasoning to subjects hitherto excluded from consideration by the dismal science, Becker reached many optimistic conclusions regarding the economic inutility of prejudice and discrimination. Human Capital convincingly argues that maximal economic value requires first investing resources in one's workforce. Worker productivity, Becker concludes, is thus related to environment, health, and education.